Disguise and Distraction
by prepare4trouble
Summary: On the way back to Lothal the crew talk about their disguises.


"Wow, Hera. You look beautiful." **  
**

Hera turned at the sound of Sabine's voice, smiling at the appreciation she heard. She looked down at her outfit as she did, smoothing imaginary creases with her hands. It was one of her own, rather than something they had found specifically for the mission. Nothing special, just a top and a pair of pants that Ezra had assured her would allow her to pass for a Lothal native, or at the very least a legitimate visitor.

"Thanks," she said, then wrinkled her expression into a frown, placed a hand on her hip and fixed Sabine with a glare with just enough of a smile to show that it was a joke. "Wait a minute, are you saying I don't _normally_ look good?"

Sabine's eyes widened a touch. "No! No, I didn't mean that. I just meant you look particularly good today. It's not often we get to see you wearing anything different."

Standing next to her, Ezra smirked at Sabine's discomfort.

"Don't worry," Hera assured her. "I know what you meant."

Sabine was wearing orange. It was strange to see her out of her armor, and stranger still to see her in Ezra's colors. It suited her though. Hera supposed that most things would. "You look nice too," she said, returning the compliment, "and I know it wasn't the intention, but that new hair color will blend in much better than the last one."

Sabine pulled a face at that. "Yeah, that really _wasn't_ the intention."

Hera sighed. She should have known that was the wrong thing to say. "I didn't mean it like that," she promised. "It looks good, Sabine. I just meant you'll be less easy to identify."

"Yeah," Ezra interjected. "Imagine we're seen someplace we shouldn't be. The last color would have gotten you arrested the next time you showed your face _anywhere_ on Lothal. This is a little more subtle. It's still you, but it's practical too."

Sabine touched her hair, looking a little reassured.

"But hey," Ezra added with a grin. "If you did still have the pink and white, you could have covered up with one of these." He pulled a large hat down onto his head and looked at each them expectantly. "What do you think?"

Sabine shook her head at she watched him turn to show off the hat from all angles. "Well, on the plus side, it's not as ridiculous as Zeb's," she told him. "A little better than Kanan's too. But sorry Ezra, I think Hera wins best head covering too."

Hera smiled and glanced over at Kanan just in time to see him moving away from the rest of the group. He stopped near to the door of the control room, and leaned heavily against the wall with his arms folded. The control room of Vizago's ship wasn't particularly large, but it was big enough that he was definitely putting himself apart from the others.

She watched him for a few moments before disengaging herself from the conversation and following him. Ezra and Sabine appeared to barely notice as they continued their discussion of the outfits.

As she approached, Kanan turned to face her. His hair was hanging loose in a way she didn't think she had ever seen outside of either her quarters or his own. The band he used to tie it back had left a kink in his hair and she felt the urge to reach for it, run her fingers through the strands and separate it out a little. She held back for now. He was dressed in the clothing that Ezra had picked out for him, but the hat and the visor were absent for now.

She was almost used to the scar now, and to the loss of the vibrant color of his eyes, but sometimes it still caught her off guard. In the same way she knew, because he had told her, that he was almost used to his blindness, but there were times when it bothered him more; when someone would say or do something that would remind him of what he was missing and bring the full force of the loss down on him anew.

She should have thought. She should have moved the conversation on.

"I'm sorry," she told him. "I think sometimes we… not forget, but…" she wasn't sure what it was. She didn't — couldn't — forget that he couldn't see, but it was easy sometimes not to think about what that meant. Now that he was recovered and he could do almost everything he had done before his injury without any apparent problems, it was easy to imagine that the Force could compensate for everything. It couldn't, of course, and it never would.

Kanan shook his head. "It's not that," he said, and smiled sadly. "I actually like hearing about Sabine's hair, and silly hats."

Hopefully Ezra wouldn't hear him say silly.

It might not be that, but it was something, though. She didn't ask. Instead she stood next to him, and waited for him to volunteer the information.

After a moment, Kanan sighed. "Okay, fine. At the risk of sounding like some creepy guy that hacked your comms channel, what are you wearing?"

Oh. She looked down instinctively at her outfit, then back up at him. "It's nothing special," she assured him. "Sabine and Ezra are just surprised because they don't often see me in anything different."

"Not often? Have they _ever_ seen you in anything different? It's been so long I can't even remember when _I_ last saw y…" he stopped, mid-word, and turned his face away from her. His head shook from side to side. "Describe it?" he asked.

Briefly, Hera glanced back at Ezra and Sabine. Ezra had placed his hat on Sabine's head now, and they were both laughing, apparently oblivious to the conversation happening at the other side of the room. She stepped a little closer and lowered her voice just slightly. This was for his ears only. "You've seen it before," she told him. "Remember that time we went undercover, just before we met Sabine?"

Kanan turned back, as though he could look, check whether she was telling the truth. "Really?"

She shrugged. "Well, the same top and head covering, anyway."

"Including the bands at the bottom of your lekku?"

She smiled. She could see them there, and she knew they looked good. Not so good that she would be noticed any more than normal, but she had always enjoyed the way that Kanan's glance had been drawn to them. "Yes," she told him.

Kanan's eyes widened. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I thought the intention was _not_ to stand out."

She had to laugh at that. But honestly, she would have stood out more if she hadn't gone in disguise. "I'll be fine," she promised him.

Kanan shrugged, unconvinced. "I'll have to take your word for it. I'm not the best judge." He smiled, but it faltered. "Not because… I mean because you always caught my attention. It never mattered what you were wearing."

She had known what he meant. She reached out and touched him on the arm, her fingers caressing his skin through the unfamiliar fabric.

"You still do," he added, leaning in a little closer. "I never needed to see you for that."

If only they were alone. But she could still hear Ezra and Sabine talking a short distance away, Zeb had joined the conversation now. It wouldn't be long before they dropped out of hyperspace and arrived at their destination. Just like every time, they didn't have time for this now.

Kanan either realized the same thing for himself, or sensed her hesitation, and backed off slightly. She left her hand on his arm, not wanting to let him go.

"Anyway," Kanan said. "Maybe it's a good thing I can't see. If that outfit is the one I'm thinking of, I'd be a liability on this mission because I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off you. You can be very distracting sometimes."

She smiled and allowed her fingers to trace the length of his arm one more time. "I know," she told him. Sometimes it wasn't by accident. "You can be pretty distracting yourself."

Kanan shook his head, the picture of innocence suddenly. "Don't know what you're talking about."

She considered continuing the game, but in such close quarters with the others, with Vizago within earshot, it just wouldn't have worked. "We're going to be there soon," she said instead, and turned to the view screen to watch the approach. As though sensing their imminent arrival, Ezra was already staring ahead, eager to see the familiar blues and greens of his homeworld. She turned back to Kanan for a moment. "You can distract me later," she promised.


End file.
